Article found at statesman.com
Where Are They Now? Jordan Hicks is retired and focused on his foundation
Every Thursday in the Hookem newsletter, we will catch up with a former Texas standout. This week’s “Where Are They Now?” interview is with former UT football player Jordan Hicks.
A linebacker at Texas from 2011-14, Hicks earned All-American honors as a senior during a 147-tackle campaign that featured the seventh-most tackles in school history and the most stops in the past 30 years. Taken in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Hicks then played 10 seasons for four NFL teams. He retired in July.
Now adjusting to life without football, Hicks has turned his attention to the nonprofit organization he founded last year. According to its website, True Strength Ability Awareness aims to “unite students and communities in celebrating Ability Awareness. Through corporate sponsorships, we aim to raise funds and empower local Special Education departments.” Last month, Hicks and True Strength Ability Awareness donated resources for three schools in his hometown of Cincinnati.
Hicks now lives in the Austin area with his family. He recently talked to the American-Statesman about retired life, his goals for True Strength Ability Awareness and his favorite Texas memory.
How is retired life treating you?
It’s interesting. It’s an interesting perspective to watch Saturdays or Sundays and be a part of normal life where the schedule isn’t bearing down on you during the season, body feels great, staying busy. I’m coaching (youth sports in Dripping Springs). Life is good.
When the football season kicked off a couple weeks ago, did you get the itch?
I didn’t get the itch, which is interesting. Watching some of the tackles and the physicality of it, I’m like, man, my body does not crave that anymore.
A few weeks ago, True Strength Ability Awareness gave some resources to three Cincinnati schools. What was it like for you to be involved with that?
We started the foundation last year. What we do at True Strength is celebrate the abilities of kids and special needs programs. We partner with the schools, bring the kids in, celebrate them, hopefully add to the resources that they have, the budget that they have to spend on those kids. Going into year two now, I think it’s important that we continue to spread our message, we continue to help these kids and these schools in a more impactful way, and we just continue our work, right? We’re trying to build on the things that we’ve already done, but partnering with the schools is the number one thing that we’re trying to do to help aid the special needs programs. We feel honored. It’s special and near and dear to our hearts because of our story and what we’ve been through firsthand, how we’ve been impacted by students from my hometown and somebody that I was able to grow up with, Greg Osinski.
What is the genesis of True Strength Ability Awareness? Why was it something you wanted to get involved with?
I was 14 years old when I first was given the opportunity to come on board during my study hall and spend some time with a kid who had muscular dystrophy. He was stuck in a wheelchair. Cognitively, he was fully there, but he was somebody that was getting passed every day in middle school and nine times out of 10 you wouldn’t say “hey” to just because there was that barrier between somebody stuck in a wheelchair and the special needs program and the general (population) of the school, the student body.
Being able to have that opportunity and spend that time with him, I was able to figure out that that’s just a bridge that most people don’t cross. But once you do cross it, it’s such a rewarding moment and you learn so much, not just about yourself but about people and humanity and the love that we can share for each other. Greg was kind of the driving factor behind all of this and the relationship that not just myself and him, but a group of us shared during high school. We’d literally pick him up from his house in his special van and we would take him to the movies. We’d go get ice cream, go grab a bite to eat, do everything together. Greg just became one of us.
We wanted to share that experience and bridge that gap with schools and communities and bring a sense of inclusion and love to different communities. What we found is that not only are we bridging that gap, but we’re also promoting leadership within the student body, that inclusiveness, the ability to talk to these kids and understand that they’re just one of us, right? They’re just part of our community and somebody that we need to love on. The origin stems from personal experience that I had. We’re just trying to share that experience and build that inclusion in communities.
What are your goals for True Strength Ability Awareness? What do you want this to become?
I think ultimately what we want to do is we want to help as many schools as possible and help raise as much funds and awareness for these programs as possible, right? We know here in Texas is the sports teams get big-time budgets, the schools and academics get big-time budgets, but the first thing that goes in budget cuts for all of these school systems are the special needs programs. Most of the time the families are draining their own pockets, and these teachers are draining their own pockets to provide for the students. What we’re striving to do is just aid them.
If we can do that in as many schools, not just in Cincinnati but we want to grow it here in my own community in Austin, where my kids go to school and the people that I’m with every single day, we’d like to bring it here to Austin, bring it here to Texas, and then see where it goes. We’d love to spread around the country if it’s possible and we have the infrastructure and that makes sense, we’ll handle that bridge when it comes. We are trying to impact as many schools and as many people as possible. Coming from the NFL, the impact from that platform is huge. That’s really all I know is how can we continue to grow, how can we continue to scale and how can we continue to make an impact where we can?
Cincinnati is obviously very important to you, but do you have any plans for Austin schools?
That is part of the year two plans. We’re creating the team that’s going to be designated to start that move. But yes, that is the plan. Currently, we don’t have anything planned on the books. But in-house, we already have our map laid out to grow here in Austin.
Now that your professional career is in the background and you’ve had some time to reflect, do you have a favorite Texas memory?
I think probably the most memorable one was when we beat A&M in A&M the last time we were both in the Big 12. I mean, the Justin Tucker kick at the end, the Kenny Vacarro pick on the sideline, the Case McCoy final drive. I think that moment right there is always instilled in my mind as one of my favorites, just the atmosphere of that place and our backs up against the walls and being able to come out swinging and put them away.
It’s a different era now, but what advice would you have for the Texas athletes now on campus?
Number one, don’t spend all your money. I know they’re getting paid a lot of money right now. Don’t spend all your money.
Number two, just enjoy every moment and cherish every single one. You know what’s going to happen. Each play is its own. There could be injury. You just may never know whatever snap or whatever game or whatever play is going to be your last one. I think I was able to do that a lot better later in my career because you’re always striving for the next thing and you don’t really have time to sit and reflect.
Last one, what are you up to these days?
I am trying to slow down. Life with three kids and five dogs, it’s fast. It’s a transition from all the stuff we’ve accumulated over the years with kids and moving around to different homes and different cities, we’ve got it all back in Austin and we’re sifting through it and we’re just taking it day-by-day. It’s a fun time in our lives. We’re enjoying watching football, enjoying this Texas season here as we get into the gauntlet of SEC football. Just taking it slow, man, trying to take it as slow as possible.